A women-led music festival pushes for peace in Congo's conflict-ridden eastern region

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Congolese rapper Clem Cléopâtre took to the stage on the last day of a three-day music festival organized by women in Goma, firing up the crowd with rapid, punchy lyrics about social cohesion, peace, and unity.

Nearly 3,000 people attended “Musika na Kipaji," according to organizers. The event, now in its seventh year, aims to campaign against gender-based violence and showcase women’s talents in music and dance.

People swayed to Cléopâtre's music on Sunday, with some singing along and blowing her kisses, while performers in colorful clothes danced on stage.

Goma, a prized city in mineral-rich eastern Congo, has been under the rule of the Rwanda-led M23 rebel group since January 2025, when the group took over key cities in the eastern region in a blitz. A long, heavy conflict has since broken out between the group and the Congolese military. Despite a peace deal, led by U.S. President Donald Trump, to end the decades-long conflict, it has continued to flare up with the use of heavy artillery, according to the United Nations.

Sexual violence has surged with the conflict and festival organizers say the event is a way for women to combat violence and push for peace.

“I come from a place where war breaks out at any moment, ever since we were little. And for me, that's a real motivation,” Cléopâtre, one of the many women performers of the night, told The Associated Press. "I encourage young people not to feel alone, especially women, because they are often forgotten, and for me, it’s a real motivation to make music just to prove to these women that they are not alone.”

The conflict has sparked one of the world's largest humanitarian crises, displacing at least 7 million people in eastern Congo, but the people still feel hopeful.

In a city where violence is an everyday reality, festivalgoers said the festival has become more special, a place where many can meet despite their differences to rebuild social bonds.

“Today, we are all together as young people. A year ago, that was impossible because of the war. Here, we can express our frustration … and see young people united around culture and women," said Jean Luc Maroy, a festivalgoer.

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Rapper Clem Cleopatre performs in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Rapper Clem Cleopatre performs for the crowd in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

A dancer performs on stage during rapper Clem Cleopatre's concert in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Fans and supporters of rapper Clem Cleopatre attend a festival in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

Fans cheer as rapper Clem Cleopatre performs in Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, Saturday, March 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)

MADRID (AP) — Noelia Castillo, a Spanish woman who sought euthanasia and fought a protracted legal battle with her family over her right to do so, received life-ending medicine on Thursday in Barcelona. She was 25.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, international helplines can be found at www.iasp.info/suicidalthoughts.

For nearly two years, Castillo pursued her right to die after her father put up a lengthy legal battle when a medical body in Catalonia approved her request for euthanasia in 2024.

As the family's struggle unfolded, Castillo’s case was closely followed in Spain, which passed legislation in 2021 enshrining the right to euthanasia and medically assisted suicide for patients meeting certain conditions. Castillo's young age, the public battle waged by her family to stop her and the circumstances that led her to seek euthanasia animated public opinion as the courts ultimately ruled in favor of her right to end her life.

“At last, I’ve managed it, so let’s see if I can finally rest now,” Castillo told Spanish broadcaster Antena 3 in an interview that aired Wednesday. "I just cannot go on anymore."

Castillo's parents opposed her decision up until the end, and were represented by the conservative Catholic organization Abogados Cristianos. The Catholic organization on Thursday confirmed that she had died at a Barcelona hospital outside of which a small group of people had gathered.

Attorney Polonia Castellanos, president of Abogados Cristianos, said Castillo's family was deeply disappointed with the outcome, and believed the Spanish government had abandoned and failed their daughter by allowing her to die.

“Death is the last option, especially when you’re very young," Castellanos said.

Castillo struggled with psychiatric illness since she was a teenager, and tried taking her life twice, she said, the second time after she was sexually assaulted. The injuries she suffered from her second suicide attempt in 2022 left her unable to use her legs and in a wheelchair.

The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Castillo has done.

In April 2024, Castillo solicited euthanasia with an independent body in Catalonia made up of doctors, lawyers and bioethics experts who deliberate on the application of Spain’s law.

The body approved Castillo’s request based on assessments that evaluated her condition as serious and incurable, and that the 25-year-old had severe, chronic and debilitating suffering.

Spain legalized physician assisted suicide and euthanasia in 2021 for those suffering from terminal illness and for people with unbearable permanent conditions. The process involves submitting two requests in writing followed up by consultations with medical professionals not previously involved in the case. The law faced intense criticism from conservative political parties and the Catholic Church.

Castillo’s father appealed the Catalan body’s decision, and a court in August 2024 suspended the euthanasia request while it deliberated. Through Abogados Cristianos, Castillo's father argued that his daughter's mental illness rendered her incapable of making the decision to end her life.

When a Barcelona court ruled in favor of Castillo’s right to euthanasia, her father’s lawyers appealed again, with the case eventually reaching Spain’s Supreme Court. In January, the court upheld Castillo’s rights. Abogados Cristianos made a final attempt to halt the procedure by appealing to the European Court of Human Rights, which denied the request earlier this month.

Before Castillo died Thursday, Castellanos repeated her client's view that Castillo had a personality disorder, and said the case was an example of the euthanasia law failing citizens.

“I think this is proof of the failure of the law and that it has to be urgently repealed," she said. “We’ve been told it was a law for very extreme cases, for people who were very ill, who were practically dying. Here we see that it’s being used to end the life ... of a girl of only 25 years who has her whole life ahead of her and who has a treatable illness.”

Speaking to Spanish TV, Castillo said she did not want her family to be around when she died, claiming that she was misunderstood. She acknowledged the glaring media spotlight that her case had drawn.

“None of my family is in favor of euthanasia, obviously, because I'm another pillar of the family," she said, adding, “but what about the pain that I've suffered all of these years?”

A disability rights group in Madrid called for a review of Spain's euthanasia law, adding that it was essential to improve resources for those with disabilities, chronic illnesses or situations of high dependency.

“Before facilitating death, the system must effectively guarantee the conditions for living with dignity," said Javier Font, president of the Federation of Associations of People with Physical and Organic Disabilities of Madrid, in a statement.

Spain is one of nine countries in Europe with laws that allow people experiencing unbearable suffering to access assisted suicide, according to Dignity in Dying, a U.K.-based rights group that advocates in favor of medically assisted suicide for people living with terminal illness.

Medically assisted suicide involves patients themselves taking a lethal drink or medication that has been prescribed by a doctor while euthanasia involves doctors or health practitioners, under strict conditions, actively killing patients who meet certain conditions by giving them a lethal injection at their request.

Since Spain adopted its euthanasia law, 1,123 people have been administered life-ending medicine through the end of 2024, according to the country's health ministry.

Castillo said she never questioned her decision as she had to reassert her desire to end her life. The calculus for her was simple.

“The happiness of a father or a mother should not supersede the happiness of a daughter."

A previous version of this story, published March 27, incorrectly stated that the U.K.-based rights group Dignity in Dying advocates in favor of both euthanasia and medically assisted suicide. The organization advocates in favor of assisted suicide for people living with terminal illness, which involves a patient themselves taking a lethal drink or medication that has been prescribed by doctors. They do not advocate in favor of euthanasia, which involves health practitioners actively killing patients by giving them a lethal injection at their request.

People gather outside a hospital where Noelia Castillo, a young Spanish woman, died after winning a long court fight for her right to euthanasia, in Sant Pere de Ribes, Spain, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Lorena Sopena/Europa Press via AP)

People gather outside a hospital where Noelia Castillo, a young Spanish woman, died after winning a long court fight for her right to euthanasia, in Sant Pere de Ribes, Spain, Thursday, March 26, 2026. (Lorena Sopena/Europa Press via AP)

FILE - Anti euthanasia protesters stand outside the Spanish Parliament in Madrid, Spain, Thursday, March 18, 2021. Banner in Spanish reads: 'Government of Death'. (AP Photo/Paul White, File)